It Won't Be Like This For Long
by Anime Girl23
Summary: Songfic - "It Won't Be Like This For Long" by Darius Rucker. Eric remembers as he dances with Julie at her wedding. R&R!


Hi, everyone! This is my first venture into writing a Friday Night Lights fic, so I hope you like! Please review. :) They make me smile and smiles are good since finals week begins on Tuesday.

Disclaimer: If I owned FNL, Tim would probably giving the community of Dillon some pretty pretty shows on a pole. So unless I've missed something major, I don't own it or him. :(

Note to BranBran: Where did you go?! I had your fic chapter up to read once I got a chance, went to review and suddenly it doesn't exist anymore! Where did the pretty stories go?

It Won't Be Like This For Long  
One-Shot

"All right," Smash called into his microphone, "All right, y'all. We're gonna slow it up a bit. Everyone that isn't the bride or her daddy, please get y'all asses off the dance floor."

"Smash," Tami warned, glaring at him, amused, as she watched Eric lead Julie out onto the dance floor. She smiled, teary, watching as her husband gave their daughter a twirl and sent layers upon layers of fabric fluttering in a sea of white.

Her little girl was all grown. Her firstborn, her little Jules. She was twenty-three and smiling in the princess gown she'd been talking about since she was five and tried to marry Martin Dawson on the sandbox. Blonde hair was swept up with stray curls around her face, a floor length veil attached to her twist, just barely showing her exposed back from behind the sheer fabric. The dress had been everything Julie had ever dreamed of, halter top with embroidered flowers and swirls across the bodice before the bottom erupted into a classic poof.

She looked beautiful.

The music began to play as Eric took Julie into his arms.

[He didn't have to wake up  
He'd been up all night  
Layin' there in bed listenin'  
To his new born baby cry  
He makes a pot of coffee  
He splashes water on his face  
His wife gives him a kiss and says  
It's gonna be OK]

_She was so small, so helpless with the memory of those big blue eyes looking up at him. He knew she wasn't really focusing on him, she was much too young for that, but those eyes…he saw them each time he closed his eyes._

_She was his little girl, his Julie._

_She didn't sleep through the night, always cried, needing this and needing that, but that was what came with being a parent. And sure, he was half asleep during work and his mind was always on the baby, but he wouldn't change it for the world._

_Eric yawned, pushing his covers away as he rose from the bed and padded into the kitchen as quietly as he could. Julie's cries were finally beginning to taper off and he knew they'd only have a few hours before she needed another feeding. He flipped on the coffeemaker, blinking hard as he tried to focus his vision. He still saw double of the cup as he pulled it from the cabinet and set it on the counter._

_The cold water on his face was unpleasant, but enough that his vision focused enough that he wouldn't pour coffee into the second cup he knew wasn't really there._

_He felt Tami's arms wrap around his waist as he patted his face with a paper towel. All the dish towels were in the wash, covered in spit-up. He turned his head, tilting it back enough so he could see his equally tired wife, and closed his eyes as she kissed his shoulder._

_"We're not crazy, right?" he asked quietly._

_She rested her head against his shoulder. "It's gonna be okay."_

[It won't be like this for long  
One day soon we'll look back laughin'  
At the week we brought her home  
This phase is gonna fly by  
So, baby, just hold on  
It won't be like this for long]

Eric closed his eyes as he swayed, Julie resting comfortably against his chest as they danced. His little girl was married and all grown up.

That first week home had been the longest and fastest of his life. One moment, Tami was pregnant and waddling around the house, looking for whatever food she could get her hands on, and the next, she was up at two in the morning, feeding their baby girl.

And now she was married.

He held her tighter, closing his eyes harder against the tears that he didn't want to cry. Not now. This was Julie's moment, her day. It wasn't his time to cry and wish he had that first week back.

Those days were long gone.

[Four years later 'bout four thirty  
She's crawling in their bed  
And when he drops her off at preschool  
She's clinging to his leg  
The teacher peels her off of him  
He says what can I do  
She says now don't you worry  
This will only last a week or two]

_They both startled awake as Julie climbed into their bed, clutching her teddy bear close as she pulled at his sleeve. "I dun wanna go, Daddy," she whispered as Tami pulled the blanket over Julie, too, "Why can't I stay here?"_

_He wanted to tell her she could stay there, that she could stay there forever, but instead, he just pulled her close whispering to her as she drifted off to sleep. Eric didn't sleep the rest of the night, just laid there as Tami finally fell back asleep, and looked at his daughter._

_They grew so fast, too fast and it killed him, watching as Ms. Grey peeled Julie from his leg the next morning. It killed him to watch the tears roll down her face as she reached out for him, trying to break free of her teacher's hold._

_"Daddy!"_

_His own eyes watered and he wanted nothing more than to sweep Julie into his arms and tell her they'd try again next year, but he knew he couldn't. He looked at his daughter's teacher, desperate. "What can I do?"_

_Ms. Grey smiled kindly at him, shaking her head. "Now, don't you worry. This," she glanced down at the still crying Julie, "will only last a week or two."_

_He cried when he got to the car._

[It won't be like this for long  
One day soon you'll drop her off  
And she won't even know you're gone  
This phase is gonna fly by  
If you can just hold on  
It won't be like this for long]

First grade hurt. Eric remembered the pain in his chest when he drove up to the elementary school for her first day and she ran off to friends she'd met in kindergarten. She'd bounded onto the schoolyard, blond pigtails bouncing, her tiny Barbie backpack strapped to her back with its single notebook and pink glitter pencil.

He remembered how she didn't even look back.

She was growing up and it was happening way too fast.

He spun her out before pulling Julie back against his chest and kissing the top of her head.

[Someday soon she'll be a teenager  
And at times you'll think she hates him]

_Julie glared at him, eyes flaring and arms crossed._

_"Don't look at me like that, Jules," Eric said as she stood in the middle of his office, "We're not talking about this here."_

_"Dad-"_

_"You're seventeen, Jules. You're too young to be in love." He didn't want her to be in love. That would mean she was growing up._

_"What about you and mom?" she snapped, "Dad, I love him and he loves me."_

_"Julie-"_

_"I'm not too young."_

[Then he'll walk her down the aisle  
And he'll raise her veil]

She was all smiles with glassy eyes as he raised her veil, mouthing _I love you, Daddy_ to him as he kissed her cheek and presented her to her fiancé.

He wanted to cry himself when he answered the priest question of who was giving her away and he knew he sounded choked when he said it was him. Pained eyes had found Tami in her pew, dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief as their baby girl took one step further away from them. He watched his wife's own fingers play with her wedding band and gave an almost miniscule nod when she mouthed that it would be okay.

Julie was getting married, another vow and two rings away from the kiss. She wouldn't be a Taylor by name anymore. She was taking his name, happy and proud to be his wife.

[But right now she's up and cry'n  
And the truth is that he don't mind  
As he kisses her good night  
And she says her prayers  
He lays down there beside her  
Till her eyes are finally closed]

_He was still watching game tapes when he heard the sound of feet coming down the hall, and he turned, eyes falling on Julie. "What are you doing up, Jules?"_

_"I'm getting married tomorrow, Daddy," she said, coming to his side and sitting beside him, "I'm gettin' married."_

_He wrapped his arms around her, letting her lay her head on his thigh as his fingers played with the hair that he used to have to style when Tami was having an early morning and couldn't do the favorite pigtails._

_"My room doesn't look like my room anymore," she whispered, sounding teary._

_It didn't. All her stuff had been moved to her new house, a quaint little one floor house where her things were placed next to her fiancé's. Her room was mostly empty, save for her furniture and bedding that would never see the light of day in a bed a man shared. Tyra and Landry had bought them a gorgeous bedroom set for the new house._

_"It'll always be your room, Jules," he whispered just as quietly as he felt her shoulders begin to shake._

_"I love him."_

_"He loves you, too."_

_He hated when she cried. It made him want to join in, but these tears were necessary. Her whole life was about to change. She wasn't going to be little Julie Taylor with that shining engagement ring. This time tomorrow she'd have a wedding band beside it as she took on newlywed life and went off onto her honeymoon._

_He kissed her head, whispering prayers against her hair and listened as Julie repeated them through her tears. "Please, God, watch over her."_

_"Please, God, watch over us," she whispered._

_She was still lying in his lap as she drifted off to sleep and he picked her up for what may be the final time and carried her off to bed._

[And just watchin' her it breaks his heart  
'Cause he already knows  
It won't be like this for long  
One day soon that little girl is gonna be  
All grown up and gone  
Yeah, this phase is gonna fly by  
So he's tryin' to hold on  
It won't be like this for long  
It won't be like this for long]

Eric didn't want the song to end, didn't want to let his baby go. He knew one day he'd have to do this with Gracie and he had no idea how he was going to do it a second time. He twirled Julie once more as the song began to soften and fade away and closed his eyes as he kissed her forehead. A tear leaked down either side of his face, too strong to hold back, and they dripped off his face, disappearing into Julie's hair. He could feel her quiet sobs against him and he wiped her eyes with his thumbs.

"I love you, Daddy," she said quietly as she sniffled.

"I love you, Julie. You look beautiful." He swallowed, leading her off the dance floor and to her husband. His hand was shaking when he handed her to him and he clapped a hand on his son-in-law's shoulder. "You take care of her, son."

Tim Riggins smiled back at him, Julie lying against his chest as he shook Eric's hand. "You have my word."

Julie Riggins smiled up at him, her head resting against Tim's shoulder.

She was all grown up.

The End

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